Missing Me
by babeeexface
Summary: Bailey's family moved to Rabanastre, but the plague took her parents and now she lives with Vaan and Penelo. When someone from her past appears, will she leave her life and for a chance at who she used to be? VaanXOC and a oneside LarsaXOC
1. Chapter 1

Some background info on Bailey: Bailey already knows Larsa from when she grew up in Archades as a child. Their families were friends so they became very close. Her family moved to Rabanastre when she was ten and she hasn't seen him ever since. She became good friends with Vaan and Penelo when she moved to Rabanastre.

"Bailey! Bailey get your lazy butt out of bed!" I ignored the annoying voice that undoubtedly belonged to Vaan, and willed it away. I groaned and rolled so my back faced him, pulling my pillow over my head. I heard slowly fading footsteps exit my room and thought I was being left alone to sleep.

Yes! It worked! He's gone! Or so I thought, but as usual I was wrong because I soon felt a bucket of bone-chilling water being poured all over me.

"AHHHHH! Vaan you are so DEAD!" I could have sworn people on the other side of Rabanastre could hear me judging by the way Vaan winced and quickly covered his ears.

"God woman you scream like a banshee!" he said.

"Well sorry I didn't know I'd be waking up to an ice cold shower this morning!" I retaliated.

"This morning? This morning? Bailey it's almost lunch time! Penelo's been gone for four hours!" I just stood there glaring at him and him at me, which only lasted about 20 seconds before we both burst out laughing. Neither of us could stay mad at each other for long,and these trivial types of fights happened all the time.

Come to think of it, I met him not long before his parents died. They were always so nice to me, and treated me like a normal kid, even though I had more money than them. Just recently Reks, Vaan's older brother who I may have had a tiny crush on, died too. My parents, along with Penelo's, were victims to the plague. Now we're just street kids, all the money my parents had was taken by the Empire when they died.

"Come on Bailey. I heard Old Dalan might have some information on how to break into the palace." Vaan said. For obvious reasons I hold resentment to the Empire, and Vaan and I have a plan to take back some of what's ours.

"Okay, okay! Just a sec." and with that I shoved him out of my bedroom and locked the door. I had to get dressed. I just wore standard Rabanastran clothing (skirt, top, and ankle boots); my clothes from Archades are all too formal and unconventional to wear around here. I dressed in blues and purples, my favorite colours. I ran my fingers through my hair, pulling out any tangles. It was sandy brown and hung straight in a short bob (the same as Mjrn's).

"Bailey, get out here or I'm leaving without you!" Vaan called from the other side of the door.

When I stepped out I heard Vaan whistle from behind me. I rolled my eyes as I walked outside. He came up behind me and put his arm around my shoulder as we walked down the street.

"You look nice today." He said. I rolled my eyes again, and punched him in the side. He laughed and pushed me aside saying, "That's not very lady like, Bailey."

I snorted and put my hand on my hips. "Who told you I was a lady? Remind me to punch their face in later!" I joked, grabbing some strange fruit from a vendor who wasn't watching. Vaan did the same. We munched on our breakfast all the way to Lowtown.

Looking around Lowtown, I remembered the old days of playing games and doing 'sky pirate training' with all the other kids. The kids that ran around now were just the same, and a lot of them idolized people like Vaan, Penelo, and I, which was convenient when we wanted them to do favors for us.

When we talked with Old Dalan, he gave us direction on what to do and a Shade Stone. We had to take it to the Nomad Village, so off we went.

_**At the Nomad Village**_

"Can I keep them? Please, please, please Vaan?" I asked, holding up a Giza Rabbit.

Vaan sighed "No" he was obviously tired; I mean this was like the hundredth time I'd asked. I kept asking but he ignored me and talked to this girl about getting a sun stone. That pissed me off! Why is he talking to her! I am way prettier than she is and he can just stand there ignoring me? For HER? Wait why do I care it's not like I like him!

Someone called my name, breaking me from my thoughts. "We have to make this," Vaan tossed the rock from Dalan up in the air, catching again, "into a Sun Stone. It'll take a bit of walking, so put that animal down and lets go."

I huffed, setting the Rabbit down. "Fine lets- Penelo?" I said, shocked to see her when I turned around.

"What did you say?" Vaan asked, sounding more than a bit alarmed.

"Vaan? Bailey? Is that you?" Penelo said, turning to face us. Vaan and I just nodded. "Wait you're not getting into trouble, are you?" she looked at us accusingly.

"No! What would make you say that?" I said clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"Good then you won't mind if I tag along?" she smiled

"Of course not." Vaan said, obviously just as uncomfortable as I was. Penelo walked on ahead and Vaan and I stayed a few feet behind.

"Vaan we need to do something! Is she finds out about the robbery we're screwed!" I whispered.

"I know that but what do you want me to do!" he whispered, getting louder.

"Hurry up guys!" Penelo sang at us. We hurried along so as not to seem suspicious.

Five big shiny rocks, a crippled child, and a lot of walking later and we had ourselves a Sun Stone. We said our farewells (finally!) to Penelo and went back to Lowtown to see Old Dalan for the next set of instructions on our brilliant plan.

_xoxo Miss Baby Face_


	2. Chapter 2

"Ahh, Bailey and Vaan, a pleasure seeing you so soon. How was the escape from the busy city?" Old Dalan asked.

"Awful! I'm starving, and we almost got caught by Penelo out in Giza!" I whined.

"Hmm, I see. Bailey why don't you go get something to eat while I speak with Vaan, alright?" I knew this was Dalan's way of dismissing me politely.

"Ok, guess I'll se you later Vaan." I said, and left the room.

I walked past storehouse 5 and saw Kytes. We went and got something to eat just down the street.

"I got the door to the Garamsythe Waterway open, Bailey." Kytes said. "Now we can go hunt for rats whenever we want. Do you think Vaan will be impressed?"

"I'm sure he will, now finish up. I'm dying to know what Old Dalan told Vaan." I said, resting my head on my hand. "Sometimes I feel like he doesn't trust me." I trailed off. Kytes gave me a worried look, but I gave him a smile, and we headed back to storehouse 5.

About 10 minutes later Vaan had come back. "Old Dalan gave me the Crescent stone. He said we could get into the Palace through the Waterway. Then we just have to find some signet, and the door to the Treasury will open and we're free to take whatever we want!" Vaan said excitedly, and probably forgetting a few important details.

"I doubt you're _free_ to take whatever we want, not that it'll stop you." Kytes said, laughing. I could tell he was anxious to let Vaan in on his little accomplishment.

"Just one thing, I thought we couldn't get into the Waterway anymore?" Vaan said.

"Nuh-uh! I got it open!" Kytes exclaimed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on Bailey!" Vaan said, grabbing my arm. "Alright! Into the stinky, smelly, disgusting, rat infested...on second thought, Vann you go have fun, I'll stay here, stank free." I said, planting my feet in the ground.

"No you're not. You're coming with me." Vaan said, yanking harder on my arm. I scrunched my face up as he dragged me into the sewers.

"Oh god! Vaan, this treasure better worth it!" I complained as I watched a pack of dire rats eating god-knows-what.

"Don't worry, it will be. Any chance we get to steal from _them _is worth it, just watch out for that...uh, whatever _that_ is and we're good." he said. I nearly gagged but we finally made it to the Palace.

"Nice place they got here." I said, looking around, and taking in the grandeur of everything.

"Yeah, and you know what comes with a nice place?" Vaan looked at me, "lots of nice stuff, all for the taking."

We headed off to look for the treasury, but were nearly seen by a bunch of imperials. I jumped back, grabbing Vaan and pulling him close to me, "Careful, if they see us we're done." I whispered. "This must be where we need to find the signet. You got the stone Vaan?"

"Of course, but how do we find it with all these imperials?"

"Like this" I said and smiled. I was finally having a good idea. "Hey bucket head!" I yelled loudly, and quickly looked to Vaan, "Now we run." I said. I had to admit, it was a good idea, but man was it tiring! This went on for a few minutes but we finally found the signet, and the treasury!

I saw a glowing red jewel. "Hey Vaan that looks promising, grab it and then lets-Hey! Let go of me!"

"Huh? Bailey?" Vaan got the stone and turned around to look at me. He saw a dashing sky pirate holding my arms behind my back, and a very tall lady with rabbit ears standing behind him. "Hey! Let her go!" Vaan yelled.

"How about a trade? I'll give you the girl and you'll give me the stone, hmm?" the man said coolly.

"Don't do it Vaan!" I had a plan and I think he knew what it was. Besides, we worked hard for this and I wasn't about to leave with nothing! Vaan looked at me and followed my eyes to the door when he saw me looking worried. I could hear the imperials coming! He ran and pulled me away from the man by the arm and we bolted out.

We made it out to the rooftop and saw the fireworks. I stopped and stared at them in awe, I found them completely mesmerizing. Vaan noticed I wasn't coming. He turned around and rolled his eyes when he saw me just standing there, then he grabbed my arm and pulled me, taking me out of my daze. But we were soon cut off by the man, and the rabbit lady was behind him on a flying motorcycle.

"You've got something that belongs to me." he said holding his hand out, expectantly.

"Yeah? Well, you're not getting it!" I said. Vaan glared at him. We all heard the guards coming this time, and I froze. I was not about to give them the stone, but I didn't want to live the rest of my life in Nalbina.

Before I could register what was happening, I was falling. Instincts kicked in and I grabbed onto the motorcycle, so did Vaan. Something didn't feel right, the machine was jerking downwards.

"Fran, what's going on?" the man asked. So her name is 'Fran'?

"I don't know, it's not heading me!" Fran said. I just closed my eyes, waiting for it to be over. This is not how I imagined I would die!

Suddenly everything felt wet, very wet, and something stunk bad! I opened my eyes, my vision was foggy.

"Might I give the young lady a hand?" I realized I was staring at the sky pirate. I reached up for his hand and he grabbed me, pulling me to my feet. I went to take a step and tripped, but the man caught me. "Careful now." he said, steadying me with his hand on my back.

Vaan stood up, shaking his hair of water. "Who are you?"

I realized I was very close to an older man who I didn't know, _and _had tried to take me as a hostage for a jewel. I moved away from him, and backed into his partner, Fran.

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced. My name is Baltheir, and this is Fran."

_Xoxo Miss Baby Face_


	3. Chapter 3

Vaan helped me walk as we made our way through the sewers, but I was finally feeling better and didn't his help anymore. Not that he had helped much anyways, it was more like he dragged me against my will, and threw me to the ground whenever we ran into an enemy.

As I laid face first in the sewer, "Ughhhhhhh!" was the only sound I could make without letting water into my mouth. I heard the high pitched cry of another Steeling as Vaan sliced through it with his sword. Vaan came over to 'help' me stand up again, but I flung my arms at him and tripped over my feet in the process. I managed to get myself upright through all my flailing, grabbing a grimy wall for support.

"Vaan why don't we give the girl a chance to stand on her own two feet, you never know what might happen?" Baltheir said as Vaan approached me again.

We made our way into the East Waterway Control and ran into a problem. There were four Gigantoads we had to take care of. I used Libra on myself, it didn't look too serious.

"How bad is the situation?" Vaan asked, drawing his broadsword.

"Not too bad. This shouldn't take long." I said as I readied an arrow in my bow.

"I bet I can kill more!" Vaan said, racing towards them.

"100 gil says you can't!" I yelled back while I fired my arrow at another.

"Must everything be a competition with them?" Baltheir asked Fran, although he knew he wouldn't get an answer. The bet ended in a draw.

We headed down the stairs by the East Sluice Control and heard footsteps coming in our direction.

"What's going on? Who else could be down here?" I asked, and then we saw this lady. She was standing at the top of a ledge, a group of Imperials surrounded her.

"Imperials? But what are they doing going after some girl?" Baltheir wondered aloud, while Vaan ran up to the bottom of the ledge.

"Jump!" he yelled to the girl. She looked at him and back at the Imperials and then jumped down, and Vaan actually caught her. He put her down and I heard the gate behind us swing shut. Great! I turned around and we were surrounded by Imperials, but that's not a problem! I'd waited a long time to show the Empire what I think about them.

Fran drew her bow, and I drew mine in imitation, she looked like she knew what she was doing so I might as well learn. We all, included the mysterious new female, began fighting. I felt water splash onto the back of my calves and spun around, coming face to face with a blade. I jumped back as it cut my cheek, and cast a fire spell. The Imperial who's attacked me crumpled to the ground, the water putting out the flames, but he had too been dead. I turned around just as Vaan finished stabbing the last Imperial to death.

Vaan wiped his sword clean and we all looked to the girl, waiting for an explanation. She sighed, "My name is Amalia."

Just then, Vaan's stone started to glow. He took it out, we all looked at it.

"Did you steal that?" she asked as if she was appalled to by thought of it.

"Yeah!" Vaan said, sounding proud of himself.

"Come on! No time for arguing, we need to go!" I said ushering them to the exit. Amalia walked on ahead and waited at the exit for us.

We walked up to her. "Don't think I will be taking orders from any of you." Amalia said as she left on ahead.

"Why don't we consider her a guest? Shall we?" Baltheir said as we followed her.

We kept walking until we reached a big open area, and Fran's ears stiffened. Baltheir was the only one who noticed. "Everything alright?" he asked. She didn't respond, but one of her ears twitched, and she looked up. Before I knew what they were looking at, big green blobs fell from the ceiling.

"Bailey?" Vaan asked, waiting for a situation analysis. When we trained, I was the one who used libra and told him what to do. Now it's part of our routine.

I jumped back, eyeing them carefully. "They're Flan. We need fire!" I called.

"That can be arranged, right Fran?" Baltheir said as he took out a red fang.

"Yes." came her reply. Vaan didn't really know what to do so he just kept hacking and slicing, as did Amalia. Fran and I focused on casting fire, when something hit me in the back of the head and everything went black. I wasn't unconscious because I was still walking but I couldn't see anything. I heard a shriek from behind me as the last Flan was killed, and I jumped forward. Someone grabbed me, holding me in place.

I suddenly felt a tingly sensation inside my eyes, and I could see. Everything was blurry but I could make out what looked to be blobs of colour all standing around me. I blinked a few times, seeing Fran come into focus in front of me, she had cured my blindness.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"Before we killed the last flan, it cast a blinding spell on you." Amalia said, releasing her grip on my shoulders. Knowing she'd been the one holding me made me shudder internally.

"Oh. I see." I said and we started to leave.

"I should learn how to do that." I said quietly to myself.

"Perhaps I will teach you." someone said from behind me. I jumped a little, thinking everyone was up front. It was Fran.

"Really?" I asked, astound that she was talking to me, nonetheless offering to teach me something.

"Yes, I see much potential for the use of magiks in you." she said, and walked ahead.

It finally felt like we were almost free of this place. We entered the Overflow Cloaca thinking we were free. But once again, doors slammed behind us. A ball of fire came in and flew around the room until it stopped at the center. It erupted, becoming a horse made entirely of fire. I was afraid, genuinely afraid. This was nothing like what I'd fought before.

I ran to the side of the room, hiding behind a pillar. My body was shaking, my s were cold, and I felt like I was going to puke. I steadied my bow in my hands, lifting to aim; only problem was I couldn't see the horse anywhere.

Suddenly my back felt very hot, so I turned around and came face to face with the horse, Firemane.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, jumping out from behind the pillar. I looked and saw everyone looking towards me. When I turned back to face Firemane, it was bucking its front hooves in the air. Next think I knew, everything went black and I couldn't move.

I looked around, realizing I was all alone, and very scared. I heard a voice in the distance, yelling at me to move, but I was frozen.

Suddenly, a blazing pain erupted in me and I slammed my eyes shut. When I couldn't will the pain away, I opened them. I was surrounded by fire, it was everywhere. I wanted to run, but I couldn't.

A gunshot rang in the air, and the pain began to fade. I couldn't hold myself up any longer, my legs gave out and I fell to the ground.

"Bailey? Bailey, can you get up?" It was Vaan. He was leaning over me.

I sat up, trying to stand, but it didn't work. Baltheir grabbed my arm, pulling it over his shoulders and hoisting me up.

"You there! Come with us!" we all looked to the source of the voice. It was _another_ group of Imperials.

Soon enough we were all lead away in chains. "Please, leave them. It's me you want, not them!" Amalia begged them. But to no avail.

They brought us out of the Waterway, and into the streets of Lowtown. Penelo came running through the crowd. "Stop it! They didn't know what they were doing! Please!"

Baltheir stepped in front of her and held out a handkerchief. "Hold onto this for me will you. Until I bring Vaan back." he said. She took it.

"Hey, Penelo. Watch out for Kytes for me will ya?" I asked

"You guys promised." she said, her voice cracking.

"Penelo-" Vaan started, but he was cut off.

"Hey! No talking!" one of the Imperials said. He knocked Vaan over the head, and he was unconscious.

_Xoxo Miss Baby Face_


	4. Chapter 4

"Nalbina? I never thought I'd end up here." I was talking with Baltheir. Fran had gone off the look for a way out, and Vaan was currently unconscious on the ground.

"Yes, well even the best get caged eventually. We can't let it keep us down," He smirked, nodding in Vaan's direction "even the dead are is rising."

"Where are we?" Vaan slowly peeled his body from the dirt floor.

"Nalbina Dungeons, Penelo's going to kill us when we get back." I said, offering a hand. He took it, pulling himself up.

"Yeah, _if_ we get back. Has anyone ever escaped this place? I've heard stories, none of them good."

"If you've heard stories it means someone escaped to tell them. Be a little more optimistic Vaan." I encouraged. He huffed, poking his head out the door.

"Well, I'm going to go look around. See if I find anything interesting." Vaan said, walking out of the room.

"Try not to cause a scene." Baltheir called before turning his attention to me. "You don't have to sit around here and wait. I know you're bored, go for a walk. We could be stuck here awhile."

"Okay." I nodded, walking out.

I was noticed as soon as I'd left the room. Cat-calls, whistles, and inappropriate comments flew by me as I walked around. I ignored them, focused on finding Vaan.

"Hey there gorgeous." some guy had walked up and put his filthy arm around me. "We don't get many girls down here, in fact, you may just be the first I've ever seen. That must make you one of them rebels. How 'bout you and I have a little chat." he said with a disturbing grin that screamed 'registered sex offender'.

"No thanks, I'm good." I said, slipping out from under his arm and backing away from him and into a bangaa.

"He ain't done with you!" the bangaa hissed, shoving me back into the chest of the man, who in turn shoved my back against the nearest wall. He held me there, pinned, as other inmates gathered around. I assumed it was the most interesting thing they'd seen in a while.

"Get off me!" I yelled, trying to squirm as much as possible. The man tightened his one hand, drawing the other one back and punching me square in the jaw. Blood trickled down my jaw, he'd split my lip.

"Get off!" I yelled again, this time much louder.

"Shut up before I make you cry, baby." he whispered into my ear. I cringed, his breath smelled worse than the rest of him, if that was even possible. I put my hands on the wall and tried to push off, but he didn't budge

"Bailey! Bailey are you alright!" I heard someone yell. It was Vaan. He ran up and kicked the guy in the balls. The man swore, doubling over in pain. Vaan grabbed my arm and we ran away.

"Thanks." I said when we stopped. I bent over, hands on my knees.

"No problem, Bailey." he said, leaning against a wall. We both rested for a moment, panting. The Dungeon was humid and the air was thick with dirt and sweat.

"I wonder what's in there?" I questioned, looking towards a door.

"'Dunno. I'll go check it out. Stay here and try not to get into any trouble. The term 'jailbait' doesn't apply when you're already locked up." He smiled, walking through the doors.

I didn't last 2 minutes before I had to go check on Vaan, and by check I mean make sure I'm never alone where the creepy guy can attack me again. I peeked through the doors and saw Vaan's body being dragged into the middle of a fighting ring by three seeqs. I had to help him, but without a weapon I was just a girl who didn't stand a chance.

"I said you're the one who stinks, ham-shanks. Do you hear me now?" came the familiar voice of Baltheir. He jumped into the ring as Vaan rose to his feet.

I ran to the side of the ring, my hands wrapping around the bars of the cage. I watched them fight it out, Vaan and Baltheir eventually coming out victorious. I sighed in relief.

The gate opened up and I ran into the ring. "Vaan! Baltheir!" I yelled. They turned towards me as I collided with them in a hug. Baltheir patted my back and Vaan muttered something about me not having any faith in him.

Fran appeared by one of the gates. "Find anything?" I asked.

"There's a way out, through the oubliette." She said as we ushered ourselves under the gate. Above us a door opened, the sound of metal suits echoed through the dungeon.

"if you've got the sky pireate in your hands where is he?" a rough voice, not one of a hume. The soldiers argued with him.

"That's enough, Ba'Gamnan!" ordered another voice. This one was familiar.

"A judge, the self-proclaimed guardians of law and order in Archadia. They're the elite guard of House Solidor. More like executioners." Said Baltheir, "we should go."

"The magicks binding the doors are too strong, even for me." Said Fran.

"Then we'll get them to open it for us. Let's get moving." Said Baltheir.

We walked down the corridor, until we came across a room full of weapons.

"Ah! The prison repository of wrested relics and raiments." Baltheir said.

"So, our things are in here?" Vaan asked, stupidly I might add.

"That's what I said." I giggled at Baltheir. Fortunately he was patient with Vaan's limited vocabulary.

After grabbing our stuff, and I may have stole some Gil too, we landed ourselves in a room full of Imperials. Instead of boring you with the details, I'll summarize. We kicked ass, LOTS of ass. Then we got to the gate. The judge had a priest chanting in front of it. The gate lit up blue and opened. They walked through and we followed, keeping a safe distance.

This led us to a room with a caged up man. The judge removed his helmet, but I couldn't see his face. The prisoner and him talked, name dropping names I didn't recognize. They left, and we decided to make our entrance.

"Who's there." The man said. Up close he was sickly looking. A pale skinny body, dirty matted hair and an unshaven beard. "You! You're no Imperials. Please, you must get me out-"

"It's against my policy to speak with the dead. Especially when theyhappen to be king slayers." Baltheir cut him off.

"I did not kill him."

"Is that so? Glad to hear it."

"Please, get me out. For the sake of Dalmasca."

That set Vaan off. He jumped off the cage. I wondered if Vaan realized how high off the ground the cage was hanging.

"Dalmasca? What do you care about Dalmasca? Everything that's happened is because of you! Everyone that's died! Even my brother! You killed my brother!" Vaan yelled, rattling the cage.

"Quiet, the guards will hear." Baltheir tried to silence him. It was too late, they were already coming.

"I'm dropping it." Fran said, dropping her heel hard on the lever. We all jumped onto the cage as it dropped what must have been hundreds of feet.

When we finally hit ground the cage smashed and the prisoner was free. Vaan pounced at him, but his arm was caught by Baltheir.

"Spare us your quiditties."

"Yeah but, but he's a-"

"A traitor, I know." Baltheir turned to look at the man. "if you can walk, let's go. We could use another sword."

"And you have it." The prisoner said. Vaan seethed, unhappy at our latest addition.

"Lighten up. He looks tired. If we're lucky, he won't last long." I said, trying to cheer Vaan up. He smiled at me and slung my arm over his shoulder. "Let's go."

AN: as it turns out my second semester is a hell of a lot busier than my first. I'll try to keep on top of things and update my stories regularly. I'm also sorry that this chapter was kind of blah, but I'm following cutscenes on youtube to get all the information right and there is a LOT of information in this game, especially before you get all the main characters. I think this story need more romance, yes?

_xoxo Miss Baby face _


	5. Chapter 5

"He killed my brother." Vaan mumbled under his breath. He wasn't pleased about our latest companion.

I tried to lighten the mood. "So, what did you say your name was?"

"Traitor." Vaan mumbled from my right.

"Basch. But if you prefer Traitor I wouldn't hold it against you." Basch said.

Further down the corridor we met a bangaa. "Care to buy anything young?" he said. His voice sounded rough and scratchy, I wondered how long he'd been there. We figured it was best to stock up on provisions and new equipment. "Careful now, when the lights go down the monsters come out." The bangaa cautioned.

I admired my purchases, they were more expensive than the weapons I'd bought back in Rabanastre. If we were going to be fighting actual monsters there was no point taking the cheap route. The only problem was that I didn't actually know anything about weapons, so I consulted the experts. "Fran? Baltheir?"

They were walking ahead, but turned around to look at me. "Yes?" Baltheir asked.

"Do you know what these are?" I handed over my new bow, dagger, and gun.

"This one is an Elfin Bow, and this is Platinum Dagger." Fran pointed out, looking to Baltheir as she didn't know much about guns.

"Ras Algethi, a nice piece of work." He smiled, handing it back to me. I put the bow on my back, strapped the gun to my right thigh, and the dagger to my left thigh.

The lights started dimming as we walked through the tunnels. I saw something fly past me and I whipped around, nothing was there. "Come on Bailey!" Vaan called as he ran ahead, there was a large spider eating at a conduit. I took a deep breath and walked on, but the feeling of being followed never went away.

As we made our way through the passages the lights would go up and down. Currently, it was quite dark. I'd broken into a cold sweat from the paranoia. Something touched my arm and I grabbed my dagger. "Go away!" I yelled, attacking where the touch had come from. There was nothing I realized as I breathed heavily.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Vaan asked. Everyone was staring at me as he walked over. I looked up at him, but then I saw it, a ghost right behind him. I tripped backwards as I tried to get away. A gun shot went off above Vaan's head and in a second the ghost had disappeared.

"A ghost. We best keep the lights on." Baltheir said as he lowered his gun.

"Let's just keep moving. I want out of this place." I said, pulling Vaan behind me, traumatized that he'd almost been shot in the back of the head.

We reached a large pair of doors. "Do you think that's the exit? It's gotta be." Vaan said, walking forward determinedly. I looked at the others who shrugged in return.

Vaan pushed through the doors and we walked in. it was a giant room. "Come on!" Vaan called. There was another pair of doors on the other side. Suddenly, a giant spider dropped to the ground, cutting off our escape.

"Exit my ass." I mumbled, backing up.

"So you act tough, but you have no backbone?" I turned and saw Basch looking at me. I looked back to the others fighting the monster, I knew I should be in there helping.

"What are you saying? I have backbone to spare I've got so much of it!" I declared.

He walked into the fight "Then prove it."

It was huge, but it's still _just_ another spider, with lots of babies. I thought back to fighting in the passage ways. Fran had used blizzard spells on the little ones to kill them off quickly. I sized the spider up, the queen of all the spiders we'd killed. I had to aim for the legs, the body was too big for me to cause and substantial damage to. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, holding my right arm out. I felt the coldness of using blizzard spells take me over. "Now." I whispered as I opened my eyes.

I saw Vaan and Basch back away as ice began to crawl up one of the creatures legs, completely incasing it. "Break." I closed my hand into a tight fist and the ice shattered into pieces, breaking the leg. Unbalanced the spider fell to the ground. I stared in awe at the monstrous insect as Basch climbed onto its body. He stabbed through its head and it screamed in protest until its body went limp.

"I can't believe…I…" I looked at Vaan when he came over to pat me on the back .

"Maybe you're not _completely_ useless." he said smiling. Basch smiled at me too, I had a feeling he knew I could do it, I just needed to be pushed. Fran nodded in approval as she walked past me to the exit. I couldn't have been happier.

We walked out the doors and a wave of sandy air whipped my face, a welcome familiar feeling. We were in the desert, and anyone who knows the desert like us is almost immune to the pain of sandstorms, but I could see Basch wince as it lashed at his exposed chest. His skin would be raw before we were home.

"I suppose we head back, then. I'd try to keep a low profile upon return, you two are escaped criminals now," Baltheir looked at me and Vaan, "and you aren't even supposed to be alive." He directed to Basch while he examined the vast expanse of sand.

When we got back I ran to Migelo's. Vaan went off with Basch, which I found peculiar because I was sure he'd want to see Penelo. Fran and Baltheir headed to The Sandsea.

I opened the door to the sundried shop and saw that Migelo wasn't around, neither was Penelo. "Hey, you seen anyone lately?" I called Caine, one of my childhood crushes who was working the desk.

"No, actually I haven't. Penelo hasn't been around in a while and Migelo's been running around anxiously all day. Says he doesn't want to talk about it." he said coming around the counter with boxes to restock the shelves.

"Need any help?" I asked while I watched him rearrange bottles on the shelf.

"No, I got it. I'm almost done anyways." he tossed me a potion. "Just in case."

I headed to the Sandsea to catch up with Fran and Baltheir. Inside I saw Migelo on the top level. "Migelo?" I said walking up stairs. He turned to look at me and I saw Vaan and Basch were there too.

"Bailey!" he said, sounding relieved. "Bailey, some bounty hunters stole Penelo and took her to Bhujerba. They won't give her back unless we hand Baltheir over to them."

"Then let's go, easy answer." I looked at Baltheir's appalled face. "We're not going to hand you over, we're goin to do what any self-respecting sky pirate would do. Steal her back!"

We got to the Aerodome and Baltheir showed us his ship. "Her name's The Strahl." Baltheir said as Vaan and I gawked at it. Baltheir looked at us from the door. "Are you coming?" he asked. All I could do was nod.

I sat down beside Basch. He was showered, shaved, and dressed. "For an old guy, you clean up pretty nice."

"You could clean up this nice too, if you ever tried." he said smugly. I thought back to my Archadian days, where daily primping was a requirement. I pouted sunk back into my chair. I looked out the window, taking in the sight because I didn't know how long we'd be gone.

Basch had told us not to let anyone know who he was, he wanted to keep a low profile.

Upon landing in the Aerodome, me and Vaan couldn't wait to get out and see the city. I mean it's a _sky city_! There aren't exactly hundreds of floating cities in Dalmasca. When we first walked onto the bridge it felt like you were going to fall at any minute. Everyone was talking about going into the mines. I walked over to the rail and leaned over to see how high up we were. All I saw was clouds, so I presumed very high.

"Excuse me, did you say you were headed to the Lhusu Mines? Might I accompany you there?" someone said. It was a kid. He was about my age, dressed formally, and had sleek black hair. I eyed him curiously as I walked back over to the group.

"What business could you have in the mines?" Baltheir asked.

"I might ask the same of you." The boy challenged.

Baltheir caved. "Very well, just stay where I can keep an eye on you."

"What's your name?" I asked suspiciously, wondering why he would want to go into the mines.

He turned to look at me "Oh, uh, Lamont." He was nervous, what's he have to be nervous about? Sketchy.

"Don't worry you'll be fine. Right Basch?" Vaan said. We all glared as Vaan blew Basch's cover, not that Lamont seemed to catch on.

As we walked past shops, Vaan and Basch checked out the armor shop, Baltheir went to get bullets, and Fran checked out a Magik merchant. I wasn't really up for shopping so I sat awkwardly with Lamont. I noticed his pendant hanging around his neck. "Hey, where'd you get that?" he looked at me confused. I slid away from him. "You're a thief!" I knew it! That's what he was so nervous before, but who wears stolen goods out in the open?

"What? I'm no thief. Besides, you're one to talk." He said.

"Are you calling me a thief?" I tried to keep the conversation relatively quiet. The last thing we needed was attention from the public. "You're the one wearing the House Solidor pendant! Your robbed nobles for a pendant, I rob street vendors and imperials to stay alive."

"Where are you from?" he asked suddenly, looking away from me and down the street.

"Um, Rabanastre why?" I was taken by surprise.

"I was just curious how you were familiar with the family crest. Rabanstre, quite a place to grow up during the war." he said

"Please, with Vayne parading around with his imperial entourage _everyone _recognizes that crest. And it doesn't exactly have a positive association." I sighed. "Rabanastre really wasn't that bad, I actually enjoyed living there, until the plague hit. That's when most of us lost our parents, that's why there's so many street kids now. I work at Migelo's shop and he gives us food. When I'm not there I'm at The Sandsea bartending, waiting tables, and cleaning up. Anyways, where are you from?"

"Archadia." He said simply.

"Like, the Empire." That one word had caught my attention. But why was he here.

"Have you been? Its lovely." He asked. It's only lovely if you're in Archades. But if you're in Old Archades you smell like dirt and you spend your entire life saving money to get up to the city. Until my family moved I thought everyone lived like us, but within walking distance of my house there were people living in a hell I didn't know existed.

"Yeah, I've been." And I left it at that.

A small black velvet bag was dropped into my lap, I looked up and saw Vaan. "What's this?"

"Open it. It's a belated birthday present." He said smiling. "I figured since I've missed your birthday every year it's exceptionally belated, so I had to get you an exceptionally good gift."

I pulled the draw string and turned the bag over into my hand, a necklace fell out. I picked it up, it was gold with a green stone on the end. "It's beautiful, you didn't steal it did you?" I questioned.

"No, but I paid for it with money I stole back in Nalbina." He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. I turned around and he fastened it on my neck. "It's a Jade Collar, it's supposed to make you lucky, more evasive. Anyone as clumsy as you needs all the help they can get."

I turned and punched him in the shoulder, "Thanks"

_xoxo Miss Baby Face_


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: ok so something has to happen to Bailey to make her special, otherwise she's just boring. Like I've said I wrote this story back in 2006 when I got the game, try to remember that this was invented by someone who at the time was 12 and now I'm re-editing it. So even though I don't understand how I came up with this I'm just going to go with it.

The mines were cold and dark. When we entered we went down a few flights of stairs, but had to quickly duck to the side to avoid being seen. A group of imperials had entered after us, with 2 obvious leaders at the front. It was Judge Ghis and the Marquis, if I'd eavesdropped on their conversation effectively.

"Who are they?" Vaan whispered.

"How should I know, I saw the same thing you did." I replied.

After they were out of sight, Lamont spoke up, "the Marquis served as the mediator at the negotiations of Dalmasca's surrender."

"What did they mean by 'shipment of the mine's magicite'" I asked.

"Can't be sure" Lamont said, and walked into the mines.

"Liar." I whispered to him as I walked by, this kid was really starting to get to me.

Deeper into the Lhusu Mines it was damp, depressing, and eerie. Skeletons popping up everywhere, and Steelings galore! I was feeling pretty confident until I ran into something new, a Slaven.

"What is that thing?" I wondered, it was big and scaly, and it looked like a 2 legged dinosaur. It was also asleep, so we thought it best to try and slip past without waking it. Of course, I would be the one to screw the plan up. Light reflected from my dagger and into the beasts face. Next thing I knew, it was charging me. I panicked and fell backwards, but managed to grab my gun and pull the trigger. I hit him in the leg, it didn't kill him but it did stop him for a moment.

"Stay down!" Fran called as I moved to get up. I dropped myself back to the floor as an arrow zipped over my head, hitting the Slaven right between the eyes. It was dead.

"Are you alright?" Lamont came up beside me and offered his hand.

I pushed it away and got up on my own, "What do you think? I'm not dead, so I must be alright." I knew he meant well, and was just trying to be polite after all our previous discussions had ended tensely, but I wasn't in the mood.

From there on out everything went smoothly until we reached Site 2

"I think we're in the right place." Lamont said, looking at a sign marked 'Site 2'. To our left there was a luminescent blue cave.

"Look, it's beautiful." I said dreamily. I walked into it, lost in the blue walls, the rest of the group following after me.

"This," Larsa said holding up a stone, "is manufactured nethicite. Unlike magicite, it absorbs magical powers, making it very powerful."

"So that's what they were talking about with the Marquis. That's what they're using this place for." I said, figuring it out.

"How do you know so much about magicite?" Baltheir questioned Lamont, but was cut off by a hoarse cackle.

"Baltheir! I let the girl go, now you come with me!" yelled an angry looking bangaa.

"Ba'Gamnan." Baltheir said. There were only a few of them, I was determined we could take them on. That determination, however, only lasted until Ba'Gamnan pulled out a chainsaw-like weapon.

Lamont threw the nethicite at them, knocking them over. He picked up the nethicite again and ran. Following suite, we all ran after him. When I moved to get past Ba'Gamnan he grabbed my ankle and pulled me to the ground. "Don't touch me you freak!" I yelled, everyone looked back to me.

"Bailey!" Vaan called. Ba'Gamnan lifted his chainsaw and swung it at Vaan when he ran for me. I sat on the ground behind Ba'Gamnan, Vaan on the other side of him.

"Let her go!" Lamont demanded, chucking the nethecite again. This time Ba'Gamnan swung his chainsaw, leaving a large gash in the nethecite and deflecting it. As he drew the chainsaw behind him he underestimated how close he was to me and it ripped across my chest. My breath caught as I got a strange feeling, he'd hit my heart and I felt like I was dying.

Everything blurred around me. I knew I'd been picked up, and the scenery around me was changing, but I couldn't make anything out. "Too bright." I mumbled as light hit my eyes. I felt the warmth of sunlight and realized we must be back outside.

"Ghis hasn't yet left." Lamont said, "Give her here Basch, we need to go." I felt Basch stand me up on the ground. I could make out the people around me, everyone was there. I felt someone grab my hand, it was Lamont.

"Let go of her, she's ours!" Vaan protested, but Lamont's hand never left mine. I started to sway, my chest felt constricted, and I could feel the blood flowing through my body like cement.

"She's badly injured, I have access to the proper care she needs. If Bailey stays with you she will die." Lamont said, and we started walking. I didn't put up a fight, at this moment I needed him, though I hated to admit it.

We walked up to Ghis, I assumed, and Penelo. She looked horror-struck by my appearance. I choked on a laugh as I looked at myself, I was a bloody mess and I was dripping all over the ground. I wobbled again and Penelo grabbed my arm to steady me. "You shouldn't be walking around unattended, Lord Larsa." Ghis spoke.

Larsa? My last thought before my brain slipped into unconsciousness.

I woke up on a couch next to Penelo, my head was in her lap. I looked around, "Nice place… Larsa?" I said his name with uncertainty. Penelo jumped in surprise at my voice. I sat myself up, the upper half of my abdomen was wrapped tightly in bandages.

"The Marquis Ondore would thankyou, this is his estate." Larsa said, he was sitting at a large desk filling out some papers, "The nurses will come to get you soon. They've already cleaned out the lesion, it just has to be stitched closed."

"It's really you then?" I mumbled. He smiled down at his work. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to cause trouble. I assumed I'd been forgotten, and that it was probably for the better."

"How could I forget about my best friend?" I said, leaning onto Penelo's shoulder. She looked confused as we sat in silence for a few moments.

"Look at what you've done to yourself." Penelo spoke up, her confusion replaced with worry. "You and Vaan, you just can't be left alone. You could have died Bailey." Her eyes started to get wet. I felt guilty, Penelo didn't deserve to be put through this. She shouldn't have to worry about me.

There was a knock at the door, Larsa beckoned them in. "Young Lord, we're ready for Miss Bailey." a lady in a white nurses dress said. With a final look at Larsa, my mind racing in circles that it was actually him, I let the nurse escort me out of the room.

The estate's resident doctor came in and gave me an anesthetic to make me sleep for 4 hours, enough time for them to get the wound securely closed. When I woke up I could feel the bright lights of the recovery room shining through my eyelids. I groaned as I sat up, the smell of sanitizer invading my nose. Aside from that, I felt fantastic, like it had never even happened.

Footsteps rushed my way, "Give her some space." The doctor ordered. I looked at the nurses that surrounded me as they took a step back.

"Is she alright?" It was Penelo's voice I heard as she pushed through the wall of staff.

"She'll be back to normal very soon." The doctor assured her. "Are you hungry, Miss?" he directed this question towards me. I nodded my head, food sounded really good right now. All the nurses left after the doctor, but Penelo stayed.

"You worried me." She smiled, sitting on the side of my bed. I was silent for a minute, I listened to sound coming from outside the room. A phone ringing, a pager beeping, the sounds of miscellaneous hospital machines running. Penelo laughed, "Are you ok, you seem out of it."

"It's so loud in here, for a hospital wing. You smell like pineapple." I pointed out.

"Hmm? I don't hear anything. Maybe your head is ringing," she laughed, "that was som good pineapple, I probably smell because I ate some dumby." She poked me in the side of the head, then she stopped laughing and looked at me. "But that was... this morning, at least 8 hours ago."

"What? I was only supposed to be out for 4 hours!" I freaked out, had something gone wrong. Is that why everyone came to see me when I woke up?

"You were only out for a day. There were some minor…complications. They found some residue from the mines still inside your cut. But they cleaned it all out, no need to worry." She smiled. But Larsa said they already cleaned it out, these doctors were professionals working for the Marquis Ondore, she didn't mean to tell me that they did something as dumb as 'missing a spot', did she?

I turned to face the door. "Penelo, you don't hear all that? It's so loud." I scrunched up my face.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"All the noise, it sounds like they're having a party out there."

Penelo walked over to the door and looked both ways down the hall, "Bailey, it's completely silent out here. You're still just a bit… off from the drugs."

"I'm fine, I feel good as new." To prove my point, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and skipped across the room up to meet Penelo. "Let's go for a walk." I said, taking her hand.

She looked at our entwined hands uncertainly, "Ok, if you're sure you're up to it." I nodded and we left. Unfortunately down the hall we ran into the doctor.

"Where are you girls off to, Bailey needs rest."

"I'm fine." I assured him. The hall around us was empty, but my ears flooded with the sounds of people talking and machines working. Then a phone rang, I stared at the doctor who didn't make a move to answer it. "Are you going to get that?"

"What?" he looked confused.

"The phone."

"There's no phone ringing, you're probably just-" he was cut off by his own phone beeping, he picked it up, saving me from another 'you're just a little off from the drugs' speech. "Yes, of course, I can do that." He said, the whole time looking me in the eyes. "You claimed you heard the phone ring?" he asked, I nodded. "Impossible, the phone was down in the lunch room, how did you hear that?" Penelo looked just as confused as the doctor.

"I'm not sure, but I can hear, and smell, and see everything." I said, not really paying attention as I looked at my hospital gown. "Can I get dressed now?"

"Oh yeah, Larsa said he had the tailor make you some new clothes." She tugged me away from the doctor before he could object. "And don't worry," she whispered in my ear, "Larsa explained everything. Bailey you never told me you were a princess."

"I wasn't!" I retorted, rolling my eyes at her. It was so Penelo to over exaggerate a story.

I was in the room Penelo and I had been given to stay in, trying on my new clothes. They were standard clothes that look just like my old ones, consisting of purple and blue. This time, however, they were made of expensive fabric, and they fit my body like a glove. "Damn Bailey, the boy are gonna be all over you in that outfit. Look at your curves, your old clothes didn't do you justice." Penelo laughed as she did her hair.

I looked in the mirror, admiring myself, and realized my hair was getting longer. It was no longer the short inverted bob I had taken such a liking after seeing many vierra sporting it. Now it reached to my shoulders. I wanted to trim it, so I took my shirt off and heard Penelo gasp. "What?" I asked. She was staring at my chest.

I looked down to where I assumed I'd see a nasty scar, but I saw nothing. There were no signs of stitches; my skin looked like it had never been damaged. In the scars place was a light, intricate pattern of thin silver-blue lines, no wider than a thread, that wove around each other. It was the size of my heart, and right on top of it. The pattern looked almost like a flower, lines that drifted away from the center and blending into my skin. "It's really pretty, if you're worried about it marring your beauty." Penelo giggled, coming to stand beside me in front of the mirror. I turned around, looking for other marks, but there were none.

"I guess its fine. Where are those scissors, I need to trim my hair." I laughed, heading to the bathroom.

We met up with Larsa and he gave me a 'get well' present. Emerald stud earrings, they were beautiful, and probably very expensive. "Courtesy of the Marquis." Larsa assured me, "He doesn't want any of his guests to feel unappreciated." I didn't argue, I wanted the earrings.

The rest of the day was uneventful. We just hung out until dinner, ate a big fancy meal, then went to bed. Penelo and I returned to our rooms, where two dark purple silk nightgowns with black lace lay on the bed. We smiled at each other and slipped into them. "So this is what it was like being a princess, huh?"

"I wasn't a princess Penelo, I just had a high status family with lots of money."

"Same thing." She giggled, slipping into bed.

"Hardly." I said, getting in beside her. We stayed up for a long time, talking about things that had gone on since we'd been apart.

"So, did anything happen between you two while I was gone?" Penelo asked with a smug look on her face.

"What do you mean?" I asked inching myself away from her and her inevitably suggestive questions.

"Between you and Vaan stupid! It's obvious, you should have taken advantage of the alone time." she said, giving me a wink and a play full kick under the covers.

"It wasn't really that 'alone' you know" I mumbled, my face getting red.

"Do you like him?" she asked bluntly as she hoisted herself up on one elbow, resting her cheek in her palm.

"Vaan? No, he's like a brother. That'd be weird." I said. I couldn't help but think back to when Penelo had dared me to kiss Vaan. We were only kids, it was shortly after we became friends. I had walked up to him, grabbed his face, kissed him, and ran away before he could do anything. It made me wonder what it would be like to kiss him now.

"Well that's too bad, because he likes you." Penelo said, giggling. "so you can stop fantasizing about whatever it was you were just thinking about doing to him, and actually do it. You could at least give him a little kiss so he knows you're interested."

"What?" I was astonished. Penelo was out of her mind, as if she thought we needed to complicate the situation we're in by throwing in an inevitably awkward relationship.

"Well… he didn't actually tell me he likes you, but it's painfully obvious. He gets upset when you talk to other guys, he doesn't like that you're such a flirt with everyone, AND he saved you from getting raped in the dungeon." suddenly I regretted telling her _everything _she'd missed.

"Are you trying to tell me that you would just stand there and let me get raped?" I asked, pouting.

Penelo sighed dramatically. "Never mind, let's go to sleep Bailey. You are _such _a child." Yeah, between the two of us, I'm the childish one. Penelo had already dozed off, sleep sounded really good right now. Unfortunately, I was going to get any sleep, I could hear every single sound. Outside, I heard a frog jump into a pond, maids were scurrying around the estate like mice, and the chefs were getting in some late night cooking that made my mouth water. I could practically taste the spices in the air. I didn't know what was going on with my body, but I had no doubt it stemmed from my injury, which I'm also betting is what's caused my new body art.

In an attempt to force myself into sleep, I buried my head in the pillow, which went poorly. I nearly suffocated on the scent of fabric softener. I decided if hume doctors didn't know what was going on with me, I would consult Fran, I considered her an expert in everything abnormal, which probably wasn't a bad assumption.

_xoxo Miss Baby Face_


End file.
